Waterfall to Bulli night drive

Last night was the February 2021 MBCNSW Night Drive. This month’s route was Waterfall to Bulli. The rain all through the week in Sydney had been raining, but it finished just before the start of the drive and the weather was actually good the whole time. It probably kept a few people away though.

As usual there was a good mix of cars – the expected bad weather did skew it more towards moderns than normal. I took my 300SE along for this drive. It was the first lone drive in the car since the new oil pump was fitted. […]

M103 Oil Pump catastrophic failure

My 1986 300SE is now back in business with good oil pressure.   Turns out the reason why the oil pressure was low was a catastrophic failure of the oil pump itself.  In the last part, I had narrowed the problem down to most likely being the pump.   I assumed that something was either blocking the screen or the pressure relief valve was stuck.    At this point it was time to take the car to a professional mechanic to have a look.

On the M103, the engine has to be raised to remove the one piece sump.   Once the sump […]

2021 Shannons Summer Auction Preview

Today I went to the new Shannons Auction rooms to see some of the upcoming auction lots for the 2021 Shannons Summer Auction. There have been a number of changes to how Shannons run their auctions since the COVID19 outbreak, and I think they are for the better.

Instead of separate Sydney and Melbourne auctions, they now run a combined online auction. The cars are still available for viewing in both their Sydney and Melbourne auction rooms. The Sydney location is much better than before – bigger, brighter and easier to see the cars. I’m told this location will also […]

Citroen DS Hydraulic Pump

The Citroen DS hydraulic pump is integral to many key systems on the car. Suspension, brakes, steering, gearchange to name a few. All of these system rely on hydraulic pressure to do their job. Other than early ID models, the DS uses a seven plunger pump and then a pressure regulator to ensure the right hydraulic pressures are maintained.

The pump on my car had been leaking more and more over the last year or so. This is not ideal not just from a mess point of view, but can cause a safety issue. The DS has inboard front brakes, […]

Auto Brunch St Ives February 2021

I attended the St Ives Auto Brunch February 2021 event today. This was the first one I have been to since the start of the Coronavirus outbreak. It was also the biggest one by far. There were literally hundreds of cars, even overflowing into other parking areas of St Ives showground.

This was also the first time I got there at the starting time – 7:30AM and it was already quite busy. This event is great as there is always so much variety there. And while there are a few cars I see ever time, there are also a lot […]

W126 battery hold downs and Auxiliary fan resistor

When I restored the battery tray on my 560SEL, I noticed the W126 battery hold downs were missing. While the battery on the W126 sits quite snugly between the inner and outer firewalls, the hold downs are still important. On a serious bump the battery could short out against the bonnet for example.

These hold downs are the same as on the W123 and other models. I ordered a new one, thinking that at least having one in place would start, and I would look for a cheaper used one later. Turns out I needn’t’ have bothered as I found […]